


You Say You Want A Revolution

by shedrownedusinink (goldenperception), sydneychase



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Prompt Fill, risin' up against the man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 16:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3775924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenperception/pseuds/shedrownedusinink, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sydneychase/pseuds/sydneychase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Senator Plumber votes to cut funding for the arts in high schools. That's not going to happen if his daughter and Jack Kelly have anything to say about it.</p><p>Written for the Newsies Winter Slump Writing Swap on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Say You Want A Revolution

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Sydney for stepping in at the last minute to help me write this. You've officially fulfilled you Adoptive-Sister deed requirement for the month.
> 
> Also, I'm 99% sure that I screwed up the way a state government works, so bear with me.
> 
> \- shedrownedusinink

Jack was three steps into the classroom before he stopped short.

“Where’s everyone else?” He directed his question to the only other occupant of the room.

"Hmm?" Katherine glanced up from her laptop, distractedly. Her tortoiseshell glasses were slipping down her nose, and her hair was falling out of the slipshod bun on top of her head.

Jack smirked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. After a moment, he cleared his throat deliberately.

“I know that you’re here.” Katherine spoke, not looking up from her computer.

“I know that you know that I’m here, but where’s everyone else?” he asked again, taking a step into the classroom. Katherine sighed.

“They’re...um…” she trailed off, apparently too focused on whatever she was working on. She typed a few more sentences before looking up at him.

“I take it you haven’t heard.” she said, lips pursed, eyes suddenly serious. Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Heard what?”

Katherine chewed her lip before taking a deep breath.

“Have you been watching the news?” she asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

“Sort of.”

“They took a vote on the funding for the arts.”

Jack’s shoulders slumped and his face became grim.

“They didn’t,” he breathed. Katherine dropped her head into her hands.

“They did.” she groaned, her voice muffled. Jack pulled up the chair next to her and sat down.

Jack didn’t know what to say, so he just rested his hand on her shoulder. Katherine looked up, her hair now slipping even further out of the bun.

“And guess who voted on the winning side?” she said in a defeated tone. “State Senator Plumber, the people’s man, and daddy dearest to yours truly.”

Katherine’s head fell to the desk in front of her with a mixture of a groan and a whimper, and she began knocking her forehead against the table. Jack pursed his lips.

“We’ll figure something out,” was all the could say. Jack had no idea what they were going to do, and he wasn’t so sure that there was anything they could do.

“No we won’t,” Katherine groaned, face down on the table. Jack’s eyes fell to the table and a million different thoughts rushed through his head. Then it hit him.

“Actually, I’ve got an idea,” he said standing up and pulling Katherine with him.

“Should I even ask what you’re doing?” she said, stuffing her things into her bag while Jack bounced excitedly next to her. When she finally looked at him agian, Jack shrugged.

“Depends.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“How do you feel about going up against you father?”

Katherine pretended to mull the words over before meeting Jack’s gaze.

“What do you have in mind?”

* * *

 

They met up with Jack’s group of friends at the deli after school that day. Surprised glances were thrown Katherine’s way—the boys knew her in passing, and they knew she was...something to Jack, but seeing her there, in what the boys all considered to be their ‘home base’ was a little jarring at first.

“Katherine Plumber,” Jack proclaimed, “meet the troops.”

Katherine waved as un-awkwardly as possible.

A short boy with pitch black hair in the back called out to Jack.

“Hey Kelly, where’s the fire?”

As Jack explained, Katherine watched the boy’s face fall—Romeo, she thought Jack called him—as he glanced over to the bespectacled boy sitting right beside him.

After the initial shouts of outrage and groans of defeat died down, Jack got down to business.

“We can’t let this stand,” Jack cried over the murmurs of the group, “and you know it!”

“What the hell are we supposed to do about it?” shouted an especially loud boy sitting on top of a table. “No one cares what a bunch of dumb kids has to say!”

The informal gathering erupted into cries of agreement and shouts of dissent. Jack tried to get the group’s attention back, but it was no use.

The boys (plus Katherine, every now and then) argued back and forth for the better part of an hour over what to do, if there was even anything to do, and if it was even worth the effort. (That last bit was shut down with a resounding no.)

Just when it seemed that the bickering would never come to anything, another boy came through the door, walking with crutches, the kind with the cuff that went around your forearm. Katherine knew this boy’s name—Crutchie. He insisted on being called that, wouldn’t tell anyone his real name. He even interrupted the teachers when they called attendance on the first day of classes, asking them to call him Crutchie instead. Katherine complied with his wished, but always felt a little uncomfortable doing so.

Under his arm, Crutchie carried (barely) what seemed to be a few poster boards.

“Hey, Jack! Reporting for duty!” he called, grinning hugely. “Look what I’ve got! There are some sticks and glue and stuff in the car, but I couldn’t carry that.”

Shifting his weight onto one foot, Crutchie grabbed the posters from under his arm, handing them out. The one he handed Jack read, “THE ARTS SAVE LIVES”. Katherine saw Jack shoot Crutchie a meaningful look.

“These are great!” Race yelled giving Crutchie a smile, before turning to Jack.

“This is pathetic. Face it Jack, we’re screwed. It’s over.” he said, running his hands through his hair. Jack gave him a reassuring smile and opened his mouth to speak before Davey, a friend of Jack’s who Katherine knew from their shared AP Government class, came through the door. Davey paused a few seconds before heading over to Jack.

“Hey, sorry, there was traffic. Did I miss much?” he asked, looking concerned.

“We’re just getting started,” Jack said, before taking a big breath.

“Alright guys. I got you all here so that we could figure out a way to fix this.”

“How? Just a bunch of kids against all the government hotshots? That sounds like a great plan Jack.” Elmer said, arms folded across his chest. Jack pursed his lips.

“There’s still a chance,” Davey said, stepping forward. “The governor still has the ability to veto. If we create enough of a stir, he’ll have to!”

“I know it sounds impossible,” Jack implored, “but if we work together, we may have a chance of getting the vote changed around. I know that having the arts in schools is important to a lot of you and it’s important to a lot of other kids that feel just as powerless as we do. But if we start something, maybe others will follow.” The deli fell silent for a few seconds before Katherine spoke.

“I know that I don’t know a lot of you very well, but I can guarantee that what Jack is saying is one hundred percent true. I already have an article for the school newspaper that I know will reach a lot of kids, and I may have a way of getting it out to the greater public, if everything goes through. If you guys just work with us, we can make a difference.”

The deli was still silent and Katherine and Jack exchanged nervous glances.

“So you guys are just going to let this happen? You’re just going to let the some bigshot government...jerks who couldn’t care less about us  take away some of the things we’re care about?” Davey cried, eyebrows furrowed. The boys exchanged glances before Crutchie stood, his sign pinned between his hand and one of his crutches.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna do it.” he said, addressing the boys who were still seated. A murmur of agreement swept through the group of boys. The kid with the glasses and his shorter friends stood and raised another of Crutchie’s signs, each holding one side.

Race stood up with a sigh.

“Aw, what the hell, let’s get this done.”

The group burst into whoops and applause.

Turning to Jack, Katherine grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him with more vigor than one might expect she possesed.

“This is actually happening!” she exclaimed. “We might actually have a chance! Jack Kelly, I could kiss you!”

Both of them froze, blinking at each other in surprise. Jack spoke first.

“I, um...well, I might have to take you up on that.”

They stayed face to face, Jack biting his lip out of nervousness, and Katherine barely containing a grin. Then, all at once, they both moved: Katherine’s arms wrapping around Jack’s neck, his coming to rest gently but firmly on her waist, and their lips locked together.

Someone let out a shout, and the deli erupted into cheers and wolf-whistles, but neither Jack nor Katherine paid them mind.

When they pulled apart, both were flushed and grinning like idiots. After a moment, Jack spoke, so only Katherine could hear.

“You know, I may have to start planning political protests more often.”

Katherine slapped him lightly on the cheek, and kissed him again.


End file.
